Biggest Fan
by Samsara Dallire
Summary: Nick learns to appreciate what is given instead of what he expected.


Biggest Fan

_Genre: A/U_

_Nick learns that while sometimes expectations aren't met, what is given instead is so much more._

_A/N: I'm not a dance expert, so please forgive any errors I make. This story was inspired by the reality show Dance Moms._

Nick made it very clear to Mandy he was not going to tolerate her turning into one of those crazy women on TV.

"You will not be one of those crazy dance moms." He said as he watched her pack Flora's dance bag.

"I promised you I wouldn't and I'm not." Mandy eyed him. "I can't help it if our daughter is one of the best dancers in her age group."

Flora, age 10, was Nick's pride and joy. When she was born, he'd hope she'd be a sports nut like he was. He longed for the day his daughter would sit and watch a Cowboys game with him.

Alas, it was not meant to be. Flora certainly inherited his drive and competitiveness, but not his ability to play sports.

She could, however, dance like a dream. Mandy had enrolled her when she was 2 and by 4, she was quite the acrobat. Doing twists and turns and leaps which had Nick cringing as he could hear Doc Robbins telling him the long term injuries each muscle would suffer.

He's come home many times to finding her doing a chin stand in the living room. Her legs bent over, he swore she could see her own toe nails.

"Sweetie, be careful." Nick told her, his voice nervous.

Flora's brown eyes, like his stared at him annoyed, "Dad! I know what I'm doing."

Nick wasn't so sure.

He also took issues with the costumes. For God's sake, could his daughter rehearse in something other than crop top and booty shorts. Nick wasn't ready for his daughter to look like a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.

Hell, he just wasn't ready for anything other than being a little girl who worshipped the ground he walked on.

Mandy groaned when he complained, "They need to be this "skimpy" She made quotations with her fingers, "So they can move around easily and not be injured by loose clothing. She's only nine years old Nick."

"Yeah, well, what about those full piece outfits where her belly button isn't so exposed." Nick grumbled as they sat at the dinner table, "I mean, my sisters never wore crop tops and booty shorts."

"Fine. I'll buy more of those if that would keep you happy." Mandy mumbled while his daughter glared at him.

"I'll be the only kid in class with a full piece dad!" Flora complained bitterly, her forehead crinkled in anger.

"If you want me to keep paying for lesson, then I will insist you wear appropriate clothing." Nick shoved a piece of steak in his mouth.

"Nick, this a dance class, not a Vegas show girl routine." Mandy insisted, frowning.

"Sure looks like it." Nick wiped his mouth with a napkin, picked up the plate and left the table leaving his two girls smoldering.

Later, as he worked in his den, Mandy came in.

"Please, no lecture." Nick moaned, closing the file. As the new supervisor of the day shift, he started to feel as if there was no boundary between work and home life. However, when the position opened, he opted for it for more family time, fought for it. Ecklie finally approved of it. He missed his old team, but what could be done? Mandy had already given up her position to be a stay-at-home mom for years and was only now working part-time to help pay for Flora's dance lessons.

"I just want to talk about what your issues are around Flora's dancing?" Mandy was holding a dress, well, what looked like a dress. "This is her costume for this weekend's competition at the Las Vegas High School.

She held up what looked like a sash and a skirt.

Nick folded his fingers under his chin and stewed, "Another two piece outfit."

"She's only nine!" Mandy insisted. "It's a Spanish style dance she's doing."

"Yeah, that's my point." Nick said, "I find this whole competition element rather worrisome."

"She has a room full of trophies, ribbons" Mandy said.

"I know." Nick smiled crookedly.

"Reminds you of someone else?" she miled stroking his hair.

"Yeah, but she's got more than I do." Nick said.

"Aren't you proud of her?"

"Of course I am." He leaned back in his chair staring at a file folder to avoid the glare of his wife.

Mandy was unconvinced by his answer as she folded her arms and asked pointedly, "You don't show it. What if it were trophies from a sport would you be okay with that?"

Nick raised his eyebrows. Mandy had a real way of getting to the heart of his issues before he knew it. Sometimes he felt as if she lived inside his head.

Sadly, she was right. He didn't take dancing seriously. He had friends whose daughters were obsessed with soccer, baseball and hockey. All things Flora detested. She detested getting dirty, and was impatient with waiting for a ball to come to her. The first time, Nick put her in soccer, she was three and was more interested in the wild flowers in the field than playing.

Reluctantly, he nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I don't take it seriously. I don't see how nine year olds gyrating on stage is considered a form of competition." Nick looked down at the file, feeling ashamed of him.

Mandy sighed heavily shaking her head, "Don't let her ever hear that." She looked very sad. "You know when she started dancing, the instructors were amazed by how fast she learned the steps, and were floored by her determination to get each step, each move perfect. She was never satisfied and was always thorough."

Nick looked up and felt tears in his eyes as it dawned on him how he'd fallen down on the job of parenting in this regard.

"That's more like you, than me." Mandy's smile broke out through her own tears.

He nodded and ran a hand across his mouth. "Yeah, I know."

Mandy folded the costume and said, "It's one thing to expect your child to do well at school, to do their chores, but there are times, Nick, we have to go with what they want to do. Your daughter loves dancing, her eyes light up. It's a beautiful thing to watch. I think that's why does so well at it. She lives to dance."

Leaning back into the chair, Nick swallowed the lump. "I'll make this up to her."

"Yes, you'll come to the competition this weekend. You've backed off the others because of work, well it's only for three hours and you just have to show up." Mandy insisted. "Please?"

"Yeah I'll be there." Nick grimaced.

Mandy grinned, "You Lindsay Willows is her choreographer. This will be her first routine."

Nick knew Catherine's daughter worked at the dance studio, but was unaware Flora was her student.

"I think Catherine will be there to watch her. She flew for two weeks." Mandy shuffled out.

Nick sat staring at a photo of his daughter. It always amazed him to see how many family members he could see in her face. Her brown eyes were very similar to his in colour, but there was so much going on with her eyes, very expressive, very energetic.

Her face was much like Mandy's with full lips and cherub features. When she danced, she was emotive in her expressions, telling the audience the story through her moves. She was tiny for her age, and could fly through the air, it seemed to Nick on the few occasions he saw her dance. His work often took him out of town on weekends. He was always caught in a rock and hard place.

Personality wise, Flora was her own girl, she was very determined and was not afraid to speak for herself, or for anyone she cared about. In parent teacher meetings, they were told Flora had stood up to bullies not only for herself, but also for other kids. Flora felt empathy, particularly due to her own challenges with dyslexia.

Not to mention, Flora was a defender of all animals, big and small. She loved their cat, Mittens, but scolded him for chasing birds in the yard. She scolded their, dog, Butler, for bugging the cat.

XxXXxx

Nick sat on a bleecher waiting for the show to begin. He was surrounded by other dads, some who were as crazy as the dance moms, but most were like him, playing games on their iPhones."Hey old friend."

Nick turned and saw Catherine sliding into the seat next to him.

"Wow, how are you!" Nick stood up and gave her a hug.

"Oh glad to be back visiting." Catherine looked great. The job obviously was working for her. She looked refreshed and happy. "I stopped in at the Lab and only Greg was in. He was complaining about being on call again this weekend because you were off at some dance recital and so I knew you were here."

"Yeah I had to be at this one." Nick sighed, "I got the third degree from the women in my house."

Catherine laughed, "You're outnumbered."

"Yeah even the cat and dog are females." Nick moaned. "At least the animals will watch sports with me on the weekends."

Catherine nodded and said, "Lindsay enjoys working with Flora. She said she's a great student and great dancer. I'm looking forward to watching her dance."

"Hey Catherine." Mandy was coming up the steps. Catherine and Nick stood up to let her slide by, but she shook her head, "No, I might need to go back down and check up on Flora."

They sat down and Catherine asked, "How is she doing."

"Nervous. This is a new kind of routine. It's an acro jazz routine with some flamenco style dancing added for good measure."

"Sounds great!" Catherine said and turned to Nick, "You must be proud of her."

"Yeah, I am." Nick said feeling as if he was straining himself because he still wasn't big on this dance.

He sensed the women staring at one another and he swallowed, "I haven't had a chance to get out to a lot of competitions."

"What about the videos that are posted afterwards. Lindsay has sent them to me."

"What videos?" Nick asked alarm.

"I buy copies of the videos and then upload them to a website where you can see them privately." Mandy answered and then looked at him, "I sent you copies at work."

"Oh I guess they got into my spam." Nick said nervously. He messed up again.

An MC came out welcoming everyone and then the dance begin.

An array of dancers came out, a lot of them doing ballet, jazz, lyrical, even Irish Step dance.

"She's got two solos today." Mandy said, "So she's been busy training for them."

"Yes, Lindsay worked with her on both." Catherine told her.

"They work so well together." Mandy sighed, "Lindsay is a great teacher."

"I know. I'm proud of her and she's still doing well with her studies."

The MC returned to centre of the gymn and announced solos for ages 9 to 11.

"Oh this is her category." Mandy squealed quietly.

Three dances later, Nick saw Flora strolling confidently onto the dance floor. His jaw clenched as he noticed she wore a two piece outfit-what looked like a sash was wrapped around her chest as a halter-top, and the skirt had quite the slit in it. Her hair was tied back into a bun with a red flower planted firmly on the top.

However, he felt warmth in his heart and thought of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she Lovely." It was fitting song for this moment until the strums of a Spanish tune played.

Then Flora began to dance and Nick held his breath as he watched his own flesh and blood move across the gymn floor in fluid motions, twirling and leaping through the air like a gazelle.

Indeed, she was not just a good dancer, she was an amazing dancer. Although Nick admitted he was feeling biased.

He heard Catherine say to Mandy, "Those Fouettes are so clean and sharp."

"They should be," Mandy laughed, "I've got the broken lamps in the house where she knocked them over."

Catherine giggled along and turned to Nick, noticing the pride in his eyes and squeezed his arm.

The audience began to clap along with the beat of the music as Flora smiled and engaged the judges almost as if she was saying, "I'm the youngest in the category, but I'm the best."

"Oh here is the aerial." Mandy said, "She was worried about it."

Flora skipped along and leaped into the air and to everyone's horror she landed smack on her rear.

Nick sat up a bit, feeling Catherine arm on him telling him to wait.

"She's hurt." He said angrily to her but she pointed out. "She'll be okay, look she's back up." Nick turned around and saw that as quickly as she fell, she recovered even more quickly.

Flora had continued on dancing, a smile planted on her face, but Nick could see her disappointment in her eyes. Flora was very hard on herself, but she kept going. There was a moment where Nick saw himself at the same age, at 12 years old, and pitching a losing game and how bad he felt about it.

He knew how she felt, and knew what she needed but he didn't get at the time. Love and encouragement.

"_You sucked today, Stokes." The coach told him._

_Nick walked away, kicking some sand where his dad was waiting for him_

"_What happened to you boy, you know better than that."_

_His 12 year old soul was wounded, but he practiced and the next time game he pitched they cleaned up._

_However, his father said nothing. In fact, he rarely praised his kids believing it would make them soft._

"No, I'm going to do it differently." Nick thought to himself as soon as she was done.

The gymn hummed with the beat, and Flora was staying true to the adage of the show must go on.

Nick turned sat down and waited for the number to end and as he saw her limping, he stood up and started down the stairs following her. Mandy was in tow calling for him to wait. He wouldn't listen.

However, he knew why Mandy was trying to reign him in, worrying about some "I told you so" lecture.

Lindsay was hugging a very tearful Flora when he rounded the corner of the bleachers. He listened closely while the dance teacher told her student it would be okay.

Nick knelt down in front of her, "Sweetie, I think you need to get some ice."

"Dad I fell!" she sobbed.

Nick drew her to him and picked her up. "Let's go to the nurse."

"There's one just down the hall to your right." Lindsay told him as she rushed to get the next dancer on.

"Thanks." Mandy told her.

A young nurse was waiting for them as Nick laid his tiny dancer onto the table. The nurse asked if she had fallen on her head.

"No my butt." Flora hissed as the nurse held an ice pack onto the sore spot. "I'm so mortified." She could barely look at Nick.

Nick leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I thought you did great." And laughed, "You just need a bigger butt to have a safer landing."

"Yeah like mine." Mandy groaned. Nick turned and winked he mouthing, "And I enjoy every second of it."

She looked at him with a glare, but a wry grin.

"You're just saying that because you're my dad and you don't know anything about dance." Flora grumbled, her mood had brightened.

Nick felt his mouth tighten and then said, "I don't, but I know a good show when I see one."

Flora closed her eyes, "I'm such a dork."

"You fell." Nick said, "You made a mistake, but you kept going. That's true sportmanship."

"I don't play sports."

"Well, dancing is a sport. It requires a lot of practice to get it right. I had to practice to do as well as I did to get a scholarship to college."

"Yeah but you didn't mess up."

"Oh yeah I did." Nick insisted. "I cost a game once when I was 12. And believe it was hard, not just for me, but for everyone I let everyone down."

"I let the team down today. I let Lindsay down." She sat up and let Nick hold her close.

"Don't you have another dance to do."

"A lyrical." She mumbled. "And then we have our group dances."

Nick stroked her back and asked, "Are you going to sit here and cry or are you going to get back out there."

"I don't know."

"Remember when we watched that movie a League of their Own?"

Flora looked up, her make up smeared slightly, "There's no crying in baseball."

"That's right, now there's no crying in dancing either." Nick told her.

She shrugged, "I guess. I should get back and get ready for the lyrical."

"You want me to take you back? Or your mom?"

Flora smiled shyly, "Do you mind?"

"You want a piggy back to the dress room." Nick turned around and felt arms grasp his neck as she climbed aboard.

Flora giggled wildly, "Let's go dad!"

As he carried out, he saw Mandy waiting in the hall with Catherine. The two women smiled at him approvingly. He done his job as a dad.

Nick leaned over and mumbled to them both, "I'm not a dance dad, I'm just her biggest fan!"

"Let's go biggest fan!" Flora called.

"And I still would rather the outfits be less revealing."

Mandy smirked, "You'll love the next routine."

XxXXxx

Nick found himself seated between Mandy and Catherine, each grasping his arm as if to keep him planted there in case something goes wrong again.

The MC announced his daughter's name, "Flora Stokes dancing to The Heart Asks Pleasure First. Miss Stokes, your music is on."

Flora skipped, barefoot, out to the floor in a completely and starkly different outfit. This time her dark brown hair was done in French hair band and tied up in a bun. She wore a white cotton dress with lace at the bottom complete with a form fitting, green vest. She carried two small bundles of tied up ferns.

Catherine leaned over, "Lindsay got the idea for this routine from the movie _The Piano_, with Holly Hunter. Your daughter's name and her looks reminded her of the little girl from that movie."

Nick agreed, "Yeah, that's who Mandy named her after. She liked her spunk."

The haunting music played and the gym was silent as in bare feet, Flora spun, turned and leap while holding the fern leaves. Her brown eyes sparkled as she captured the essence of the scene from the movie where the character's mother played the piano while the child danced. Her feet fluttered like wings on a bird.

Flora's dancing took Nick's breath away and at one point, he squeezed the hands of both woman flanking him.

It wasn't just the fluid and graceful way she moved, but the emotion of the dance Flora captured. The child like innocence of a movie with so much darkness and tragedy. A theme, which echoed Nick's own life with sadness, he endured in his job.

By the end of the routine as he daughter landed in a split, with a grin on her face, Nick couldn't care less if she won or not. She was a winner as far as he was concerned.

The audience appeared to react the same way as they gave her a standing ovation. Nick glimpsed side ways and noticed tears on the faces of Mandy and Catherine.

Nick whispered in a hoarse voice to Catherine, "Lindsay did a great job."

"Oh I know, but Flora's such a great kid to work with Nicky, you and Mandy have done an amazing job with her."

XxXXxx

The kids gathered on the floor dancing around while the MC took center stage.

The first category for Acro Jazz had Flora placing 5th. Smiling and grateful, his daughter still dressed in the hip hop routine of jean shorts, crop top and suspenders accepted the award with grace and dignity.

Although Nick could see she was clearly disappointed but cheered her on.

Finally, the next category of over all solos was announced and everyone held their breaths. The trophy was as tall as Flora. Nick could see her eyeing it.

_Please God, let her win this one._

God was surely in a good mood as the MC said her name, "Flora Stokes for The Heart Asks Pleasure First."

Nick stook up and pumped his fist in the air as if he was at a world series, Mandy and Catherine laughed and told him to settle down, but everyone in the audience appeared to be cheering for his kid. The one who fell and managed to get back up again for her next routine.

Flora appeared shy and embarassed by the attention. She ducked her head down a bit in sheer Stokes fashion and accepted the trophy and the cash prize of $500

"Well that will pay for a few months of a lesson." Mandy said.

"Naw, put it in her college fund." Nick said as they started downstairs to pick her up.

"But we need the money." Mandy said, "You were complaining last week."

"Forget what I said." Nick said, "And remember, I'm no dance dad."

With a mirth, Mandy surmised, "Whatever you say."

His daughter smiled as she stood beside the tall trophy. As she turned his way, Nick gave her thumbs up. She gave one back.

xxXXxx

Nick slipped into Flora's room after she was tucked in for the night.

"Brush your teeth?" He asked.

"Oh yeah."

"Good." Nick stared at the trophy and smiled at her.

Flora looked worried. "Dad if I lost would you still be proud of me?"

Rubbing his chin, Nick walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, "You know what. Do you know what I was even more proud of today than you winning that trophy?"

"What?" her brown eyes narrowed.

"When you fell and got back up and continued dancing." He smiled, "You were a trooper."

"They taught us that in dance class, that no matter if we fall, we continue on." She explained in a matter of fact way.

"Looks like you learned well." Nick said and kissed her forehead. "And like I told your mom, I'm not a dance dad, I'm your biggest fan."

Tiny arms wrapped around his neck as Flora kissed his cheek. "You know what Dad, I'm your biggest fan too."

Nick felt his heart melt as he contained the tears in his eyes. "Thanks sweetie."

Once he was safe out of the room, he was wiping the tears from his eyes as he heard a voice behind him.

"She's not the only whose your biggest fan."

Nick turned around and saw Mandy standing there with her arms folded.

Ducking his head, Nick retorted, "Oh really."

"Yeah really." She walked up to him, entwined her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, "And I'm going to show you."

Breaking away, she took Nick's hand and led him to their bedroom.

Before they got their, Nick said, "Mandy?"

"Yes." She looked a little perturbed he was hindering a much-needed process to unravel from weeks of stress.

"I, uh, feel the same away about you. Thanks for giving me that lecture. I needed it." He pressed his forehead into hers.

She smiled warmly, and continued to tug him into the bedroom.


End file.
